With the announcement, these technology standards—previously adopted
internationally as IEC 62453 and approved in the United States by the
ISA103 Field Device Tools Interface (FDT) committee—will now be
designated as ANSI/ISA standards.

"FDT standardization based on the IEC 62453 standards, known as
ISA-62453 in the U.S, is occurring globally with user demand serving as
the driving force. We are excited to hear that ISA is moving U.S.
support and adoption of FDT standardization forward, says Glenn Schulz,
managing director, FDT Group.

In May 2009, ISA103 committee efforts were accelerated when FDT
technology was unanimously accepted by the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC), with the adoption of the IEC 62453 standards. The
ISA103 committee comprises a cross-section of industrial automation
professionals, including users, designers, integrators, educators and
suppliers of leading industrial automation technology.

Speaking of suppliers, in 2010, Emerson Process Management
(www.emersonprocess.com), joined the FDT Group on its Executive
Committee and Board of Directors. This announcement was seen, by some,
as significant with Emerson being a strong supporter of EDDL, or
Electronic Device Description Language, another major standard for
display of fieldbus data. Also, on October 29, 2010, the CC-Link Partner
Association (CLPA, www.cc-link.org) signed a cooperation agreement with
the FDT Group to promote the use of FDT as an international standard.   

The new ISA103 standard allows for any fieldbus, device or sub-system
specific software tool to be integrated as part of a universal lifecycle
management tool in a plant automation system. This allows end users to
access smart instruments and better manage diagnostic information and
perform maintenance.

Next steps for the ISA103 committee include FDT specification updates
and the late 2011 maintenance cycle of the IEC 62453 standards. The
committee will also ensure the ISA and American National Standards are
maintained to support the automation industry and the U.S. market.

American National Standards Institute

www.ansi.org

International Society of Automation

www.isa.org

Emerson Process Management

www.emersonprocess.com

CC-Link Partner Association
www.cc-link.org